No Way! Cisse Will Refuse To Wear Newcastle Shirt With Wonga Sponsorship

Typography

Share This

The controversy surrounding Newcastle’s new shirt sponsor has taken a new twist with star striker set to refuse to wear the kit bearing Wonga.com.

The Senegalese striker is a practicing Muslim and has protested to club officials on religious and ethical grounds about the pay-day loan company's deal.

Under Sharia law, Muslims must not benefit from either lending money or receiving money from another person - meaning that interest is prohibited. Interest is not paid on Islamic bank accounts or added to mortgages.

Cisse's team-mates Cheick Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa, who are also practicing Muslims, may also refuse to wear the strip.

Newcastle are yet to work out a compromise with the player, report The Mirror, though history points to a solution as they may follow the stance of former Tottenham and West Ham striker Freddie Kanoute.

The Malian refused to wear the logo of gambling website 888.com on his Seville shirt some years ago. Kanoute instead wore an an unbranded top in Spain, although he agreed to wear the logo during training.

Eventually he agreed to wear the shirt in exchange for being excused from any of the promotional duties the sponsorship entailed.

Wonga, whose four-year deal takes over from Virgin Money at the start of next season, has already drawn fierce criticism from other quarters for the huge interest charged on 30-day loans.

Should a Newcastle fan accept a loan to buy a £50 club shirt, they would have to repay £71.92 after a month with a rate equivalent to 4,212 per cent per year.

Earlier this week Bolton reversed their decision to enter into a sponsorship deal with QuickQuid after an agreement was met with opposition from fans.

A statement on the club’s official website confirmed the agreement was no longer, with chairman Phil Gartside insisting: ‘We don’t want our commercial relationships to come between us and our community.’